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Unocal earnings decline slightly as production drops in the Gulf International E&P takes up slack for 18 percent decline in domestic flow; Alaska profits drop from $17 million to $10 million Allen Baker PNA Contributing Writer
Profits at Unocal Corp. slid just a bit in the third quarter as domestic production took a big hit from storms in the Gulf of Mexico and a natural decline in a major gulf field. Impacts from the storms are still being felt.
Overall, Unocal reported a profit of $99 million for the quarter, down 3 percent from $102 million in the same quarter a year ago. Profits in the second quarter of this year were $111 million for the company, based in El Segundo, Calif.
Profits from international operations helped save the third-quarter results from a serious decline. Higher international volumes and prices, as well as lower exploration expenses, balanced lower domestic volumes of liquids and natural gas.
Unocal’s domestic production slid 18 percent to 237,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily from 288,000 a year ago. But the oil brought an average of $24.19 a barrel, up 6 percent from $22.87 a year earlier. Natural gas prices were essentially stable at $2.72 per thousand cubic feet. Alaska profits slid In Alaska, profits for the quarter slid to $10 million from $17 million. Oil production was down slightly to 24,000 barrels daily from 26,000 a year ago and 25,000 in the second quarter. Prices were highest in the most recent quarter, at $22.17 for each barrel, up 3 percent from $21.58 a year earlier.
But natural gas volumes in the state shrunk to 61 million cubic feet daily from 83 million a year ago and 77 million in the second quarter. And the gas price slid back to $1.20 per thousand cubic feet from $1.57 in the same quarter of 2001 and in the second quarter of this year.
Unocal says production losses from the gulf during the current fourth quarter have been significant. During Hurricane Lili in early October, the losses amounted to as much as 75,000 barrels a day. And Unocal facilities in the eastern gulf took some damage. About 15,000 barrels of daily production is still shut in, and planned workovers are being delayed.
With that, Unocal is expecting fourth quarter production, even with the acquisition of Pure Resources, to be in the neighborhood of 445,000 to 460,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily. That’s down from 466,000 in the third quarter, 486,000 in the second quarter, and 506,000 in the third quarter of 2001.
Revenues totaled $1.29 billion for the third quarter, down 19 percent from $1.58 billion a year ago. Second-quarter revenues were $1.36 billion.
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